cottrell frederick gardner (2 Ergebnisse)

Zustand: Very Good+. Zustand des Schutzumschlags: Very Good. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1952. First Edition Stated. Octavo (21.5cm); publisher's cloth, blue topstain, in blue pictorial unclipped dust jacket by Sidney Butchkes; 414pp. Moderate edge wear to jacket margins, spine panel lightly sunned, corners nudged, else Very Good and sound. Ownership ex libris of the late chemist and bibliophile Sidney Ross to front pastedown. Surprisingly elusive biography of the American physical chemist and inventor whose electrostatic precipitator was the first device designed to eliminate air pollution.

46 signed letters [34 TLS, 12 ALS] comprising decades of correspondence between Frederick Gardner Cottrell and various notable figures of his day in U.S. politics, the international science community, and academia. All letters are housed in new archival mylar sleeves. Cottrell was a notable chemist, inventor, and philanthropist, best known today for his invention of the electrostatic precipitator - one of the first inventions to combat air pollution - and his founding of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, which used the revenue from the electrostatic precipitator to fund further scientific research, and continues to do so today. While best remembered for these feats, Cottrell had a long and influential career both in the U.S. Federal Government and as a science consultant. He was well known nationally and internationally - in industry, in government, and in academia - for his support of and contributions to new ideas and new talent within the scientific community. The letters, which span from 1901-1941, track Cottrell over the course of 40 years, and evidence the many relationships he had over that period with some of the most influential people of the time. These include a letter of introduction from Alexander Graham Bell, a discussion of chemistry with Thomas Edison, replies from two Nobel Prize winning scientists - the discoverer of the noble gasses, William Ramsay, and discoverer of the electron, J. J. Thomson - to Cottrell's request to study in their labs, and exchanges with two presidents, Herbert Hoover and Woodrow Wilson. Other letters show his personal interactions with leading scientists of his day (Robert J. Van de Graaff, Georges Claude, George E. Hale) and heads of industry (Henry L. Doherty, Ivy Lee), and track the path of his career through his time as the director of the Bureau of Mines; to chairman of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Technology on the National Research Council; to head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Fixed Nitrogen Research Lab, and beyond. These letters, the vast majority of which were sent by these notable figures to Cottrell, evidence his expertise, the depth and breadth of his professional interests, and his eagerness to collaborate and share research and ideas, coming together to trace the life of a man whose work was and continues to be consequential to the advancement of science as a whole. CONTENTS: 1-Page TLS from inventor of the telephone Alexander Graham Bell to a Mr. Fish, dated December 20, 1911, introducing Cottrell to him. In Very Good condition. In this letter, Bell is writing in his capacity as Regent of the Smithsonian Institution. On 1331 Connecticut Avenue letterhead. Faintly creased, with mild wrinkling along the edges. Signed in black ink by Bell: "Alexander Graham Bell". 1-page TLS from inventor of the light bulb Thomas Edison to Cottrell dated January 13, 1925, discussing the unexpected results of a past chemistry experiment of his in relation to the generation of ammonia. In Very Good condition. TLS is on Edison's personal letterhead ("From the Laboratory of Thomas A. Edison"). Lightly age toned, with some wrinkling and small closed tears along the top edge. Faintly creased from past folding. Signed by Edison in black ink: "Thos. A. Edison". Includes a lightly soiled 1-page facsimile of Cottrell's reply. 2-page ALS from Nobel Prize winning physicist Joseph John Thomson to an unnamed recipient, likely Cottrell, dated July 6, 1901, discussing the possibility of Cottrell coming to study at Thomson's lab. In Very Good condition. In 1901, Cottrell would have been studying in Europe at the University of Berlin, seeking to study in the laboratory of an accomplished scientist. Thomson was already a figure of some renown for his 1897 discovery of the electron, which represented the first identification of a subatomic particle, and would be awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics in recognition of his work. ALS is on Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge letterhead, and shows a faint crease across the middle and light pencil writing in the top margin of the first page. Small red pencil mark beneath letterhead. Signed in black ink by Thomson: "J. J. Thomson". 1-page ALS from Nobel Prize winning chemist William Ramsay to an unnamed recipient, likely Cottrell, dated 14th August, 1901, in which Ramsay says there is no availability for Cottrell to study in his lab. In Very Good condition. As with the letter from J. J. Thomson, Cottrell would have been studying in Europe at the University of Berlin at the time this letter was sent. In 1901, Ramsay was just a few years away from his landmark 1904 discovery of argon, the first identified noble gas, which would earn him the 1904 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and lead to the development of a new section of the periodic table. ALS is lightly toned along the edges, faintly creased, with a similar red pencil mark in the top margin. Signed by Ramsay in black ink: "W. Ramsay". 1-page TLS from U.S. President Herbert Hoover to Cottrell, dated September 17, 1920. In Very Good minus condition. Brief letter of thanks for Cottrell's forwarding another person's letter to Hoover. On Hoover's personal letterhead. Faintly stamped, "Received / 1920 Sep 18 / Interior Department Bureau of Mines / Washington D.C.". Small rust marks and light wrinkling along the top margin; faintly creased. Signed in black ink by Hoover: "Herbert Hoover". Two 1-page TLS's from Herbert Hoover, each part of an exchange with Cottrell. In Very Good condition. Includes a 2-page facsimile of Cottrell's response. First Hoover TLS sent February 5, 1926; Cottrell's response sent February 8, 1926; Hoover's second TLS sent February 12, 1926. In his first letter, Hoover asks Cottrell about the potential improper investigation of a new method of creating aluminum by the Bureau of Mines. In the second letter, Hoover thanks Cottrell for clearing up the issue. Hoover's letters are on Department of Commerce letterhead. Letters show fa.